Life is funny. One day we’re hiding something from our parents. The next we’re trying to find what our kids are hiding from us. Soon after, we’re helping our grandkids sneak sweets and stay up too late. As we toggle from one side to the other, we see things from different perspectives. But our online reputation lasts forever. Here’s a look at what this means for you, your life and your privacy.

Teens and Online Reputations

We enter our teens needing permission to visit a friend. We exit in full control of our lives, able to leave the state or even the country without permission. This maturation process means we slowly leave our parent’s protective shield and start making our own decisions – and our own mistakes. Many teens today post their mistakes all over social media, without appreciation for what this means later in life. Teen’s reputations are based on the coolness factor, not what an employer, future spouse or eventually their kids might think.

Adulthood and Online Reputations

Before social media, the worst thing we had to worry about was Uncle Larry showing up with those pictures from camp freshman year. Parents who grew up on Facebook and Twitter have endless timelines that prove we did everything we’re trying to tell our kids not to. It’s not just parents who need to worry. Now that we’re adults, our bosses, people who could lend us a mortgage or car loan and the guys who evaluate our insurance claims have access to this information. Reputation CEO Fertik says there aren’t sufficient laws in the works to protect prying eyes from this information.

Senior Adulthood and Online Reputations

So, you’ve raised your kids and finished your career and your online reputation no longer matters, right? Not so fast. Now that you’ve accumulated wealth over a lifetime, you’re the target for online predators, such as scammers and identity thieves. If your accomplishments are featured in articles about you, you can believe con artists bet on you having a buck or two they can shave off. It might come in the form of an email scam, stealing your credit or blackmail.

In this digital age, forever truly means forever. The high school paper or the high school prank, the way you discipline your children and how much money you’ve banked in your IRA – it’s all online for the world to see. How can you protect yourself, your reputation and everything you’ve worked so hard to earn? Visit Reputation.com for valuable advice on safekeeping your forever.